Edward Klink

Sunday, August 28, 2005

I spent a few hours aboard the Portuguese Princess out of Provincetown on a quest for whales. The Atlantic was as smooth as glass, the sun an orange ball with it's eye on the western horizon. Our destination was Stellwagen Bank, an annual feeding ground for a variety of whale species. We were lucky and spotted minke, finback's, and humpbacks. I took this photo of a 70 ton humpback diving off our starboard bow. As my dad said, "It's amazing such things still exist on this Earth."

{ Posted By edward } { 6:08 PM }

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Summertime on Cape Cod means fishing, and the bluefish and striped bass are spoiling for a fight. So four of us grabbed our rods and some snacks, boarded the trusty Grady-White, and rocked out into the bay.

Wham! When a bluefish strikes the trolling rig, the rod doubles over and all you can do is hang on and crank that reel with all your might. Made of a dozen pounds of muscle, slick scales and needle-sharp teeth, blues are built for combat on the high seas. Evolution has designed these finned flesh-eaters perfectly for the grim task of predation. They exist to savage the teeming schools of baitfish and anything else that gets in their way, including an angler's fingers.

But today we turned the tables a tiny bit and hauled in over a dozen blues as well as a couple bass. Most of the shimmering, thrashing gamefish got released, but we saved a couple blues to make a tasty bluefish pate, J.W. Jackson style!

(Photo by Thomas Knight)

{ Posted By edward } { 8:57 AM }

Monday, August 22, 2005

Here's ole buoy number 5 doing its thing, warning mariners in Cape Cod Bay to beware the treacherous Billingsgate shoals.

In the 1800's Billingsgate was a bustling little town, with numerous residents, a lighthouse, and a school. But nature is always conspiring against the Cape, and after a series of storms the residents abandoned the island and it sank beneath the waves.

Today Billingsgate is fun to visit at low tide. Accessible only by boat, over the years I've found evidence of the now-vanished residents of Billingsgate such as pieces of china and bricks as well as a rusted spiral stairwell, presumably from the old lighthouse.

But the island still has some tricks up her sleeve. While combing the sand bar for relics and shells it's easy to lose track of time, and as the tide creeps in it's all too easy to find yourself having to swim to reach the boat. The alternative? Davy Jones's locker.

{ Posted By edward } { 11:10 AM }

Low tide on Cape Cod Bay, one of my favorite places on Earth. In six hours the waters will return, drawn back up to the beach by the gravitational pull of the moon. You can be happily pulling quahogs from the black mud in a spot where only a few hours later the water will be over your head. Then, in the time it takes to watch a couple movies, you return to find all the evidence of your shellfishing efforts completely erased.

{ Posted By edward } { 11:07 AM }

Thursday, August 11, 2005

This is my favorite kind of art.

{ Posted By edward } { 10:47 AM }

Monday, August 08, 2005

What am I reading? Over the weekend I read Ed McBain's novella Driving Lessons. A tight, fun little mystery. And speaking of mysteries, do our minds really understand everything we need to know about another person or thing within the first two seconds of an encounter? Last night I started Malcolm Gladwell's Blink.

{ Posted By edward } { 10:14 AM }

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

The truth is out there.

I took this photo outside my house a few months ago. I'm not saying it is what it looks like it is...you're thinking that.

...must...obey...my...masters.....

{ Posted By edward } { 6:15 PM }

Monday, August 01, 2005

Spent the weekend visiting longtime friends in the Jersey country, out near the Pennsylvania border. Saturday we took the kids to the Land of Make Believe and it was a perfect day for water park fun. After returning to the house and getting everyone washed up, our hosts served plates of London broil and fresh veggies from the grill, glasses filled with local wine, and peaches n' cream for dessert. All in all a great little getaway!

{ Posted By edward } { 5:13 AM }